Chapter 5

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• TEMPTING THE TYCOON    Chapter 33

  We waited until the house was asleep.The guards rotated shifts. The cameras were checked. Gabriella had been tucked in and kissed goodnight. Julian lingered by her door a little too long.I didn’t say anything.We both knew what we were about to do couldn’t wait.Clara’s room had been locked since the day she vanished. No one dared enter. Not even the maids.But that night, Julian took the keys from the drawer in his office and walked ahead of me in silence.I followed him down the east wing. The air felt colder there, like the walls remembered her.He unlocked the door. We stepped inside.The room smelled faintly of lavender. Her sheets were neatly made. The curtains drawn. It looked untouched.Too untouched.Julian didn’t speak. He moved with purpose, checking the closet first.I opened the drawers. Inside were perfectly folded clothes. Underwear, white cotton bras. No dust. No sign of haste.But it was the mirror that stopped me.A heart drawn in red lipstick. Inside it, Julian’s

• TEMPTING THE TYCOON    Chapter 32

  After the explosion, I couldn’t find Julian by dawn.“Have you see my husband?” I asked the housekeeper.“No ma’am. But breakfast is set, though,” she answered I found his breakfast untouched but my mom and Gabriella had had theirs already.I sat to eat but I was worried about Julian.He left no note, no goodbye. Just a locked drawer, and a tense silence that filled the entire estate.By the way his clothes were thrown across the couch it looked like he changed in a rush.Clara had vanished again. No sightings. No trace. Just whispers that she was still out there. It was obvious at this point that she had help..Julian didn’t tell me where he was going.But I knew.He was hunting Vanessa. She had to be the one helping Clara.Julian’s POV Anger and rage boiled in me.Vanessa wasn’t easy to intimidate. That much I knew but I had to speak to her, she had to stop aiding Clara’s madness.She liked power plays.She liked secrets more.I had sent her a message earlier so we met at a restau

• TEMPTING THE TYCOON    Chapter 31

  Insomnia hugged me, my thoughts all on how Clara had made her way in here.She hadn’t hurt me. Hilisn and the guards got to her before she could do anything. But I couldn’t wave away the look I saw in her eyes. Not rage. It was obsession. Utmost devotion to Julian.She believed he belonged to her.And part of me wondered if she was right. Because I had seen them interact. I had seen Julian stand up for her to me.I sat on the edge of his bed watching him sleep.He opened his eye a little, “I asked you to sleep here with me today, Aria. Why do you act like it’s an unpleasant thing? You should be happy and comfortable in your husband’s arm”I wasn’t.I hadn’t been in his arm for a while. So why now? This was one of his security and control measures. Gabriella was made to sleep with my mom, with security heavily manning the door. While I was forced to sleep here.I didn’t sleep a wink.By morning, the security team had locked Clara away “Where was she locked?” I asked the chief of sec

• TEMPTING THE TYCOON    Chapter 30

  Julian’s paranoia was increasing.He oversaw the locking of the gate , and sometimes locked it himself. Everyday there was a new guard he hired.. He did a never ending vetting of the security guards. He watched the security cameras, sometimes deep into the night.“You don’t have to do this, Julian. You’re overworking yourself. With this, your business and political career, you’ll most likely run mad,” I said.He remained stoic. “I already failed once.”“She’s home.”“And she still wakes up crying. You think I don’t hear her? You think I don’t know the reason you have those bags under your eyes is because you stay awake at night comforting her!?.”I sat beside him. “I don’t mind doing that, you should rest, Julian. You’re not a god, Julian. You can’t control everything.”He looked at me. “No. But I can control this house.”I was tired at this point.The next night, I saw reason to agree with Julian’s protectiveness.It was in the night time when I heard some noise, I went out to check

• TEMPTING THE TYCOON    Chapter 29

  On a sunny Thursday, my mom and I sat by the garden, not saying anything but enjoying each other’s company.When I noticed someone running out from the front door, it was Julian. I got up immediately, my mom trailing after me.“They found her, they’re on their way here. They’re bringing Gabrielle home” he said joyfully.I immediately followed him, A black SUV made its way into the estate The moment the door opened and she ran into my arms, Her face was streaked with dirt. Her hair tangled. She clung to me so tight it hurt. I didn’t let go.Julian stood behind her, his expression unreadable. “One of our team members found her in a locked bedroom in an abandoned lodge two towns over. No one else was there. She’d been alone” One security personnel said. Julian nodded tightly. He watched me wrap my arms around her. His jaw was tight. His fists, tighter.I carried her to the couch, brushing the hair out of her face. “Are you hurt?”She shook her head, then looked up at me with wide e

• TEMPTING THE TYCOON    Chapter 28

  I sat on the bathroom floor, the positive pregnancy test still trembling in my hand. My heart trembled. This was not the time for this.. I couldn’t be excited, I couldn’t feel the joy that should come with creating life. All I felt was fear. Fear of Julian’s reaction, fear of what will happen to the baby in a world where its father has so many enemies. Fear for missing Gabriella.I strolled around the quiet mansion like I normally do if I’m trying to relax. Julian had left earlier without informing me as he has always done since the kidnap of Gabriella hadn’t told him. I placed my hand on my belly. I couldn’t tell him about this pregnancy. At least not yet.“We agreed that there would be no kids in this relationship. Damn I messed up.” I muttered to myself. I wasn’t even sure if Julian still had any proper kind of affection for me anymore. With this whole Gabriella thing he has been a bit hostile. This couldn’t be more wrong timing. I stayed deep in thought until I fell asleep on t